Alex de Minaur sends Australia through to Davis Cup semis with tie-clinching win over Van de Zandschulp

Australia moved to within two victories of its 29th Davis Cup title on Tuesday in Malaga, Spain, as Alex de Minaur clinched victory for the green and gold with a hard-fought 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Botic van de Zandschulp.

De Minaur improves to 10-4 in Davis Cup singles rubbers – he has won nine of his last ten.

“It feels great,” De Minaur said after the match. “It was a hell of a fight.”

Both Aussie wins came from a set down on Tuesday, as Jordan Thompson put Lleyton Hewitt’s side on top with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Tallon Griekspoor.

“Jordan Thompson came out here and played his heart out,” De Minaur said. “He really inspired me to go out and leave it all out there… I’m so proud to be part of this team. We’ve got an amazing team – every single one of the players here has each other’s backs – it’s an honour to be a part of this team.”

De Minaur fought off a break point at 4-4 in the third set…

With the match hanging in the balance, De Minaur was able to fight off Van de Zandschulp in the final set to take a 5-4 lead.

“That game was huge,” the 23-year-old said. “He threw everything he had at me. I fought it off somehow. Just stayed positive, kept telling myself to dig deep and keep backing myself and staying positive.

“Kept on telling myself if I was able to somehow get away with that game that the momentum was going to change dramatically. You know, it ended up going my way, and, you know, I played a very solid game on return and managed to steal the win there.”

You might also like this

De Minaur leads Australia team for Davis Cup quarter-final; Injured Kyrgios absent

tennis majors

Malaga to host Davis Cup Finals in November in 2022 and 2023

tennis majors

New format, more teams: 10 questions about the 2022 Davis Cup

tennis majors